Long Island's Bright Side

Long Island, NY, I could detail the reasons the place might drive a sane person mad; however today I am looking at the bright side of life. In addition to the proximity of amazing beaches, one of the perks of living on the south shore is the ability to get fresh seafood. My home, built on the property of what was once owned by the Doxsee Clam Factory, is a few steps away from fish markets offering up the day's local catch. Tonight's dinner is perfect summer fare right off the grill-- clams, lobster, vegetables, portobello mushrooms, corn on the cob-- finished off with prosecco and watermelon.

Potic Cottage Progress

A round of cheers to Dennis and the guys from Densin Construction who framed up our addition in record time. Another round of cheers for James and Alec, who pitched in by being jacks of all trades. The lines of the house are completely altered; what was once a simple 665 sq ft ranch is now closer to 1000 sq ft modern. Better yet, we are holding fast to a tight budget and attempting to retain, reuse, recycle as much as we can. James dug out some left over materials from previous projects: cedar posts now stair treads, slabs of walnut we will mill for paneling, some left over doors, trim, windows-- all being fit for use in the cottage. In terms of windows, we chose Anderson. James felt it was the best option considering cost and availability. As for lighting, we found some extra spotlight can fixtures we had from the addition in Islip for the stairwell and ceiling fan fixtures from Lowes for the two bedrooms. Our next discussion is siding, with options limited due to cost of materials and labor. But that's a whole entry in itself.

For the Love of Color

Brace yourself-- Shocking revelations today in the New York Times: The Guggenheim was supposed to be red!
That Platonic white ideal of modernism-- shattered. Our expectations of modern architecture do not include color. Instead we like to think in terms of the purity of the materials, sometimes losing out on the playfulness of color. For example, check out Friedensreich Hundertwasser's hostel for the Ronald McDonald House for convalescing children. The cheery, fanciful color must help lift spirits in such dire circumstances. Even the Victorian era, despite its prudishness, or perhaps because of it, used color in bold ways, expressing the architectural details with flair. And what a joy it is to see all of the lovely colorful buildings standing side by side like a pack of crayons in the small towns of Ireland. But color can be a commitment, and fear of choosing the wrong color can lead one to go the safe route: beige. One way to kill some time and test out color schemes is to go on the Benjamin Moore website. Their exterior options are fun to configure and before we painted our house in Islip, I tested many different combinations. Ultimately, we settled on no less than four different colors-- the overall house a customized blue that I fear we can never duplicate, periwinkle shutters, cranberry trim, and taupe accents. Now that we are looking at repainting Potic cottage with its new addition, I am anxious to test out some new ideas-- perhaps we'll have a vote?

O World

"The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust (1871-1922)
After a month of rain, the meditation garden finally received some attention during yesterday's sunny afternoon. Some plants grew beyond their alloted territory, others perished in puddles. I weeded, replanted, and tried to sweep the muddy bricks, only to have it rain again last night.
I saw the garden's rain-sodden evolution differently when I returned to it this morning and found it refreshed. The birds agreed and I was reminded of an Edna St. Vincent Millay poem which I found on St John the Divine's Poet's Corner:

O world, I cannot hold thee
close enough!

Thy winds,
thy wide grey skies!

Thy mists that roll and rise!

Thy woods, this autumn day,
that ache and sag

And all but cry with color!
That gaunt crag

To crush! To lift the lean of
that black bluff!

World, World, I cannot get
thee close enough!

Long have I known a glory
in it all,

But never knew I this;

Here such a passion is

As stretcheth me apart.
Lord, I do fear

Thou'st made the world too
beautiful this year.

My soul is all but out of me,
let fall

no burning leaf; prithee,
let no bird call.

Matisse and Picasso

There has been much talk of the rivalry between the two artists in art history circles. Which artist had better a sense of color? Who was more skillful with the pen? Of course Picasso's prolific and extensive career brought innumerable innovations, but one cannot forget Matisse's ability to capture the essence of a woman's face, even her whole identity, with a few simple lines. One thing they could agree on was a love of birds. Who can blame them?

UP!

This winter I read about an elderly woman in Seattle who refused to move from her home despite incredibly lucrative offers from developers for her property. She held out against the tide of glass towers and chain stores, choosing to stay in her home while construction cropped up around her, dwarfing her home. Befriended by the construction site manager who took her to doctor appointments, she bequeathed him her home when she died, and now he plans to sell it to cover his daughter's education. A strange turn of events that I was reminded of when I attended the new animated film UP. The main character, an elderly man, is another holdout, and like our friend in Seattle, suffered the sights and sounds of the earth around him making way for an evolving urban landscape. In this case, however, the homeowner inflates thousands of helium balloons and floats off to South America. The film, lovely and sentimental, spoke to us who love our homes, but wonder if the home holds the same meaning without its context and its inhabitants.

Addition Time

On the back of this truck is our second story addition. Ok, the bones of the second story addition. The kids were rather impressed to see the truck, especially the fork lift, which did double duty since the truck couldn't make it up the driveway. Clara, on the other hand, was unmoved by the commotion.

The Most Famous Unknown Artist

What type of artist stages a protest outside of his own one man exhibition or send hate mail to the Whitney Museum? The enigmatic Ray Johnson did just that. Best known for being unknown, Ray Johnson was part of the New York City art scene which founded the pop art movement and staged happenings. Notorious for backing out of exhibitions, few know his name, but Johnson made collages of Elvis and Lucky Strike cigarettes before Andy Warhol and Tom Wesselmann, delving into pop culture in the late fifties while everyone else was still doing large scale abstract expressionism.
Perhaps best known for his school of correspondence, Johnson was an avid letter writer and receiver. Johnson was well known in post offices all along Nassau County's north shore. In fact, I recently asked students to create collages and mail them to me in memory of Ray Johnson. One student struck up a conversation with a postal clerk who said he remembered Johnson well, since Johnson had his own bin due to the volume of mail he received. It wasn't until I started receiving the students' mail that I understood Ray Johnson's school of thought; it is the joy of receiving the piece of mail that becomes part of the art experience. I truly love some of Ray Johnson's work with text. His bunnies, portraits of sorts, contain all sorts of references to other artists and gallery owners, charming and sardonic all at the same time.
I had the pleasure of taking part in several of Ray Johnson's events-- called 'Nothings'. Here I am at his cutting party with underwear on my head at the age of 16, where clothes were cut off our bodies. Another time Johnson walked across a rooftop with a green ladder, where nothing else really happened. Artist and filmmaker Nick Maravell took up documenting several of these experiences with Ray Johnson, which are now available on DVD and became part of the documentary on Johnson, How to Draw a Bunny. Johnson and his work, who died in 1995 after swimming out to sea off the coast of Sag Harbor on a winter day, remains as relevant and as fascinating as ever.

The Tao of Globalism

Airplanes, computers, cell phones, heck even twitter-- we are connected globally. This isn't a new idea, but watching the Iranian people send cell phone images of the protests last week, I again appreciated the impact of technology on our global consciousness. Seeing everyday people send images in a passionate quest for democracy via the cell phone, I felt a connection to them and their plight.
In my own techno-global moment, I have my own cell phone pic of a Hare Krishna parade outside of an Anglican church in midtown Manhattan. As two foreign religions meet on Fifth Avenue, I am attracted to both. Is it right to pick and choose the best of other cultures? Japanese food, Scandinavian design, Italian sports cars, Indian textiles, French film, British authors, Irish music, I love them all. Ever eclectic in my own tastes, I crave the mixed bag of cultures globalism offers, but fear two possible side effects-- self-consciousness or homogeneity. But everything has that give and take, the yin and the yang of progress and destruction, and globalism is no exception. As cultures evolve, something is lost in the process. But for the Iranian people, let's hope something is gained: freedom.

New Inspiration

Few activities get my creativity flowing as much as flipping through a good design publication. Since the loss of Domino Magazine, I've been feeling a bit of a decor void. Sure Dwell is a great monthly read, and the NY Times feeds me regularly; however I miss the glossy decorating fantasy that Domino offered. Well I found some new options recently. Livingetc, a British publication, satisfied the itch for some new and funky ideas. With tons of mod products featured, including faux grass flooring, handcrafted teak tubs, and at least three rooms featuring egg chairs, there were many ideas to inspire redecoration. The cover price is a bit steep-- 8.50 USD-- but there is an online version for your perusal. I may spring for the subscription because I love marking pages for further contemplation.
I also found this terrific design book Urban Style: Eco Archiecture. Not only did it showcase some fantastic color photographs of projects around the globe, it offered floor plans and diagrams of some of the alternative energy features of the buildings.

Lido Beach: New Renderings

The new renderings of the Lido Beach project have been reworked and developed further. The home, situated on the Atlantic Ocean, will have amazing sunlight, which will be captured by the photovoltaic roofing, that is if it ever stops raining in NY. Happy Friday!

The Gift of Art

I've become a big fan of buying small pieces of original artwork as gifts. It pleases me to support an artist as well as giving someone a unique gift. Etsy, where I've found some fantastic artwork at reasonable prices, is a great forum for locating diverse original artwork. Recently I've bought a photo from the NYC photographer Monica Schulman whom I found through her blog Ciao, Chessa! Her images of Italian architecture seems to suit my father perfectly, who went to Italy so often and with so many relatives that he became a travel agent on the side. I selected one of her black and white rooftops for him for Father's day.
As for the other images, I discovered Rachel Austin's encaustic paintings on line. I loved the mix of flying objects, floating over maps and landscapes. Two birds perched on power lines with a map of far away destinations reminded me immediately of my life with James, so I gave it to him as we celebrated our fifteenth wedding anniversary today.
Both artists were gracious in sending lovely personal notes along with the artwork and made me feel as if I had made a friend along with the purchase.

Bowery Preservation

When I think of Jane Jacobs preserving the West Village against highways proposed by urban planner Robert Moses, I can't help but be thankful. By keeping the streetscape intact, that neighborhood retains the character which makes New York City a special place. Photographer Louise Millmann shared with me some recent preservation activity in the East Village. In trying to prevent the entire neighborhood from becoming a homogenized block of glass buildings, the community has been organizing a series of protests, including a clothing line of soiled underwear right outside an upscale lounge for tourists. She and her husband, David Mulkins who has been a teacher of history and cinema studies at the High School of Art and Design for 20 years have been long-time residents of the neighborhood. Mulkins, co-founder of the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, a community preservation group, is organizing a celebration of history and culture of the Bowery and a cautionary consideration for the future sponsored by East Village History Project and Bowery Arts and Science. It should prove to be an interesting battle to save the very essence of the neighborhood which made it appealing in the first place.

Decor and Text

I've noticed a recent decorating trend-- the use of typeography. I suppose it caught my attention since I love the look of adding letters or words to an interior space. The first pic is in my office, a natural fit for incorporating letters into a space. I am not alone. In the span of two weeks I found images in Harper's Bazzar, Better Homes and Gardens, and the New York Times, all of which incorporated some snazzy letters into their eclectic design. A fun way to add a letter or two seems to be in a pillow. I thought this eye chart one from Heatherlins Home was a good option, even if you've got 20/20 vision.

Worth the Wait

Last Saturday night, I treated James to the recent production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot for his birthday. This is a show to catch if at all possible. The production, which features an amazing cast of Nathan Lane, John Goodman, John Glover, and BIll Irwin, has received rave reviews and I couldn't agree more. Irwin, whose wordless comedic performance in Fool Moon amazed us years ago, brought the ever faithful Vladimir to life with charm and wit. Lane has his usual outstanding stage presence, offering some surprising humor to the tragicomedy. Seeing the play brought us back to the moment when we first read it, and made us reevaluate the existential idea that Godot never shows up. This time around, we saw characters who might have seen Godot, even within themselves, but may have missed it because they were looking in the wrong places.

NYC and Architecture

There are some buildings which become the icon for the entire city. With Manhattan's density, it isn't simply one building that stands out, but the cumulative vertical effect of skyscraper next to skyscraper. Philip Johnson's Chippendale detail on the AT&T building is barely visible from the street, but soon became part of the post-modern movement in architecture. It was only from this 36th floor window that I was able to get a good look and snap a pic.

The Guggenheim, recently renovated, is another architectural 'must-see' for its graceful exterior and its inspired floor plan. Currently housing a Frank Lloyd Wright exhibition, Wright's desire to establish a modern and distinctly American form of architecture is detailed in his beautiful drawings and in the handful of models on display. What was most interesting about the show were the residential floor plans as evidence of how our homes have evolved. Most significantly is the change in the placement of the kitchen. What is now the center of a contemporary home for cooking, eating, and socializing, Wright relegates the kitchen into a separate space meant just for food preparation with little to no connection to the living space. What remains true, however, is his desire to place the house on the site be be best integrated with nature.

Another great, but often overlooked NYC building, is the Park Avenue Armory between 66th and 67th street, built for New York State’s Seventh Regiment of the National Guard, the first volunteer militia to respond to President Lincoln’s call for troops in 1861. The building was completed in 1880. Members of what was known as the “Silk Stocking” Regiment included New York’s most prominent Gilded Age Families including the Vanderbilts, Van Rensselaers, Roosevelts, Stewarts, Livingstons and Harrimans. The Armory’s drill hall, one of the city's largest unobstructed interiors, uses industrial steel arches for support, reminding one of what Penn Station had been. The vast 9,000 square foot space was used most recently for the Ernesto Neto exhibition, whose fluid transparent forms were nearly dwarfed in the enormity of the space.

I hope to spend a good portion of this summer continuing the search for great NYC architecture, so if you have any suggestions, please drop me a note!